GORAN POTKONJAK

Photography
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LANDSCAPE DECONSTRUCTED

The European landscape has long been an anchor of cultural and geographical identity. From the rolling hills of Tuscany to the dramatic fjords of Norway, from the vast plains of Hungary to the towering Alps, these terrains have historically shaped the way Europeans interact with their environment. However, in the contemporary agean era of acceleration, fragmentation, and abstractionlandscape is no longer merely a static background but a space of dynamic, ever-shifting perception. The images presented in this collection serve as a visual dissection of landscape, reducing it to bands of color, texture, and movement.

Blurring the Horizon: The Velocity of Modernity
The images dissolve the traditional depth of field, presenting landscapes not as solid entities but as fluid, horizontal gestures. This technique recalls the experience of viewing the world from a moving train
a quintessentially European experience, where the countryside unfolds as a perpetual blur. The vast rail networks of Europe, from the high-speed TGV to the nostalgic charm of transalpine routes, have long transformed how people engage with nature. Here, the landscape is not something to be physically entered but something that rushes past, becoming a series of impressions rather than tangible details. In this sense, the images reject the classical notion of a fixed viewpoint and instead evoke transience, dislocation, and speedqualities that increasingly define modern European life.

Deconstructing the Pastoral Myth:
Historically, European landscapes have been sites of idealization. Romantic painters and poets immortalized rolling meadows, winding rivers, and untouched forests, embedding them within a narrative of purity and nostalgia. Yet the abstracted bands of color in these images break down the very foundation of this pastoral tradition. The landscape is no longer something picturesque and permanent; instead, it becomes an ephemeral streak, erasing the possibility of a fixed and stable nature.

This visual fragmentation can be read as a metaphor for the contemporary European condition. The continent is in a state of fluxsocially, politically, and environmentally. Climate change is reshaping coastlines and altering ecosystems, industrialization continues to push rural spaces toward urbanization, and political shifts redraw boundaries, sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically. These images, in their refusal to present a static scene, acknowledge this instability.

The Aesthetic of Motion: Landscape as Memory and Displacement
European history is deeply entwined with movement. The migrations of the past century, both voluntary and forced, have altered the demographics and perceptions of space. The images reflect this reality; they are landscapes that do not belong to a single, definable location but rather evoke a collective memory of motion. They mirror the experience of displacement, of fleeting familiarity, where recognition is always just beyond reach.

What these images propose is not merely a critique of traditional landscape representation but an evolution of it. They challenge the viewer to reconsider their relationship with spacewhether as a passenger, an observer, or an inhabitant of a world that is increasingly in motion. They ask: What remains of the landscape when its details are lost to velocity? Is it still a place, or does it become an ideaa memory of a road traveled, a window looked through, a moment that dissolves before it can be fully grasped?

Conclusion: A Landscape Without Borders
The Europe of today is no longer confined by the rigid nationalistic borders of the past. It is a continent of movement, adaptation, and reinvention. In these images, landscape is no longer an object of contemplation but an active, shifting presence. It is a space where past, present, and future blur together
just as the colors in the images dissolve into one another.

This is not a landscape of certainty, but of flux. It is a landscape deconstructed, yet in its deconstruction, it offers a new way of seeinga vision that is fragmented yet whole, chaotic yet undeniably beautiful.

©Goran Potkonjak 2024

Improvisation No. 5, February 2025

Improvisation No. 5, February 2025
Improvisation No. 5, February 2025
Improvisation No. 5, February 2025
Improvisation No. 5, February 2025
Improvisation No. 5, February 2025
Improvisation No. 5, February 2025
Improvisation No. 5, February 2025
Improvisation No. 5, February 2025

Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025

Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025
Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025
Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025
Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025
Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025
Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025
Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025
Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025
Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025
Sekai no Owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, February 2025

I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions

I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions
I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions
I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions
I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions
I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions
I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions
I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions
I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions
I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions
I Cannot Focus for Longer Than 5 Minutes | 113 Positions

TOWER TURN II

TOWER TURN II
TOWER TURN II
TOWER TURN II
TOWER TURN II
TOWER TURN II
TOWER TURN II
TOWER TURN II
TOWER TURN II
TOWER TURN II

MODEL I

MODEL I
MODEL I
MODEL I
MODEL I
MODEL I
MODEL I
MODEL I
MODEL I
MODEL I

THE INEVITABLE

Beijing | Xi'an, May 2024

Beijing | Xi'an, May 2024
Beijing | Xi'an, May 2024
Beijing | Xi'an, May 2024
Beijing | Xi'an, May 2024

In essence, The Inevitable is a meditation on the unstoppable forces of change that define our era, particularly within the context of China's extraordinary transformation. It captures the tension between relentless progress and the human desire to influence and direct that journey towards the future.

Chongqing | Guilin, May 2024

Chongqing | Guilin, May 2024
Chongqing | Guilin, May 2024
Chongqing | Guilin, May 2024
Chongqing | Guilin, May 2024

The serial The Inevitable was inspired by two works of Andreas Gursky shot probably out of moving train, slightly blurred in a front perspective and sharper further to horizon. As I was planing my round trip in China and I was going to travel some 4000km by train, I thought to myself, what a wonderful occasion to sit in train, look out of window and create body of work. No hustle and bustle walking the endless streets of large cities all day long. As soon I started my trip the whole idea transferred into something else. In a stead of using 1/125 of exposure and trying to freeze the moment on 350 km per hour speeding train, I used exposure of one to four seconds creating stripes of colour, blurred to unrecognition closer to the train and contour recognising further away. The joy of unexpected and uncontrollable creation was tremendous!

©Goran Potkonjak 2024

THE SUPERPOSITION / II

THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II
THE SUPERPOSITION / II

Superposition: The Phantom City

 Imagine a city unlike any other, where every building stands not in one place, but in many places at once. This city, which we will call Superposition City, serves as a metaphor for one of the strangest and most fascinating principles in quantum mechanics: superposition. Now, let’s connect this concept to a project titled “Superposition,” which explores the visual representation of this principle through photography.

 In the world of quantum mechanics, particles such as electrons don't behave like the solid, predictable objects we're used to. Instead, they exist in a state of superposition, meaning they can be in multiple states simultaneously until they are observed. This defies our everyday experiences and challenges our understanding of reality.

 The photography project captures this abstract concept in a tangible form. It involves photographing a 50x50 cm object, illuminated with colorful lights against a black background. By moving the back of the camera independently from the static lens during the exposure, images are created that are repetitively blurred to varying degrees. This technique results in images where the same object appears multiple times, layered and shifting, evoking a sense of being in multiple places at once.

 In this way, the photographs become a visual metaphor for superposition. Just as a quantum particle can exist in multiple states simultaneously, the images show the object in a multitude of positions and forms, all coexisting within the same frame. The colorful lights add to the ethereal quality, creating a dynamic interplay of light and shadow that further emphasizes the multiplicity of the object's existence.

 For the viewer, each photograph in the “Superposition” series offers a glimpse into a world where the boundaries of reality blur. The repeated, blurred images of the object evoke a sense of movement and change, yet they are all part of a single, coherent piece. This mirrors the behavior of particles in quantum mechanics, where the exact position and state of a particle are indeterminate until measured.

 This approach to the project echoes the concept of wave function collapse in quantum mechanics. The camera, like an observer in a quantum experiment, influences the final image. The movement of the camera’s back, akin to the act of measurement, determines how the object’s multiple positions are captured and displayed. Each photograph represents a unique collapse of the superposition, freezing one of the countless possible states into a single, observable image.

 In the imaginary Superposition City, the skyscraper isn't confined to a single identity. It’s both a relic of the past and a marvel of the future, occupying various positions in space and time simultaneously. Similarly, these photographs transcend a single perspective, presenting the object as a fluid entity that exists across multiple dimensions.

©Goran Potkonjak 2024

THE SUPERPOSITION

THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION
THE SUPERPOSITION